{"id":872839,"date":"2026-08-27T03:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T03:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/872839\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T03:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T03:00:17","slug":"winnipeg-biz-owners-encouraged-to-fly-the-maple-leaf-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/872839\/","title":{"rendered":"Winnipeg biz owners encouraged to fly the Maple Leaf \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Winnipeg city councillor says business owners should fly the Maple Leaf to bolster Canadian pride as the country fends off a trade assault from the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about being patriotic and showing that we are all on the same page and are unified in our efforts as we negotiate trade with the United States,\u201d said Markus Chambers.<\/p>\n

The St. Norbert \u2013 Seine River representative launched \u201cOperation Naked Flag Pole\u201d Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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SUPPLIED<\/p>\n

Using AI, coun. Markus Chambers created an image showing \u201cOperation Naked Flag Pole,\u201d an initiative he started on Wednesday, calling on Winnipeg businesses to hoist the Canadian flag as a sign of solidarity after trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. fell apart, late Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m seeing flag poles in our downtown area, but they\u2019re not covered with Canadian flags,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re sitting empty. They\u2019re naked. So let\u2019s get them dressed with the Canadian flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said even as a politician, it\u2019s hard not to feel helpless after trade negotiations abruptly ended Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought if there\u2019s a way of showing solidarity, it\u2019s through the Canadian flag,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m hoping that businesses take me up on this initiative and start to hoist the flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chambers said alongside the political turmoil, 2026 is the perfect time to raise a flag, as the year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Legion which supports veterans.<\/p>\n

Trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada fell apart late Friday<\/a> after Prime Minister Mark Carney stepped back from negotiations, spurring a slew of new American tariffs on things like honey, dairy, alcohol, and a long list of consumer products. Prime Minister Carney said Canada will introduce retaliatory, dollar-for-dollar tariffs starting Sept. 8. <\/p>\n

Premier Wab Kinew has said Manitoba stands behind the federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory will not be kind to Donald Trump, so we should never appease him,\u201d Kinew told reporters Saturday.<\/a> \u201cWe should fight back, which is what Canada is doing today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Sign<\/p>\n

Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said many businesses already fly a Canadian or Manitoba flag to show their pride, and did so long before trade negotiations went sideways. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe support any call that effectively encourages people to take pride in their community, who they are; their identity as Canadians,\u201d Remillard said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want people expressing pride in Canada as a negative reaction to what we find ourselves currently embroiled in with the United States. We should be proud to be Canadian 365 days a year.\u201d <\/p>\n

He noted there are some business owners who chose to be politically neutral and some who don\u2019t have the ability to fly the flag, but said if Winnipeg businesses or residents want to fly the Maple Leaf, they\u2019ll encourage it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should all be proud to be Canadian for all the right reasons \u2014 what it means to be Canadian \u2014 not as in: \u2018We\u2019re not this. We\u2019re not the U.S. We\u2019re not other countries. That\u2019s not what being Canadian is about,\u201d Remillard said.<\/p>\n

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Morgan<\/p>\n

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Winnipeg city councillor says business owners should fly the Maple Leaf to bolster Canadian pride as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-872839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}